Rumor: Apple ready to retire iDevice dock connector

An unsubstantiated rumor claims that Apple is looking to replace the venerable 30-pin iPhone, iPad and iPod dock connector with a smaller, space-saving successor that will possibly make a debut in the company's next generation iPhone.

Apple blog iMore has "heard" from unnamed sources that the iPhone maker is getting ready to switch out the dock connector currently found on all iDevice products with a smaller comparable component in order to make space in the company's ever-shrinking devices.

The site claims that the main reason behind the supposed change is to save space in a next generation iPhone for components that are more important than a dock connector, however this is only a guess as no timeline was given as to when the change will occur.

By moving to a smaller form factor, Apple can use advanced electronics like 4G LTE radio chipsets without making a bulky product. For example, the original iPad used a micro SIM card instead of the more prevalent mini SIM when it was first introduced in 2010, and the technology found its way to the iPhone 4 to make space for a larger battery. The frugality went further as the internal antenna was displaced to the handset's edge, a design that caused the so-called "antenna-gate" fiasco.

Another factor is the connector's role in data transfer. With the advent of iCloud, AirPlay and the energy-sipping Bluetooth 4.0, a future iPhone may only need a cable for charging purposes.

It is unclear what would become of the huge ecosystem of existing "Made for iDevice" products, which is a lucrative business for both Apple and third-party companies, as it would be made obsolete by a redesigned connector.

Illustration of space taken by current dock connector in an iPhone. | Source: iMore

No further information was given, and it is important to reiterate that the aforementioned specifics were based on guesswork.

People are going to through a fit about how Apple changed it to get us to upgrade all our stuff but the truth is they've used the same connector since April 2003 with the 3rd iPod release. That's 9 years for the same 30-pin Dock Connector. If a new, smaller connector will usher in another decade of portable devices then I'm all for it.

The EU is requiring micro USB as a standard, yeah. There's been talk of Apple just supplying an adapter to go between that and the 30-pin connector. But honestly, micro USB is smaller than 30-pin, and not just by a little bit - by a lot. It would be really nice to be able to carry just one cable and use it interchangeably between my phone, my external hard drive, and my DSLR.